Angels of Death (2021) - Season 1 Review

What do you get when a superstar of the Warhammer 40K Youtube community gets bought out by Games Workshop to work exclusively for the evil empire? How good could his first show be on a struggling platform that isn’t even available on large streaming hubs like Samsung Smart TV’s and Xbox?

Surprisingly good, actually.

Let’s discuss.

Angels of Death is a 3D animated action series from the creator of the incredible Hellsreach YouTube series, Richard Boylon. If you haven’t seen Hellsreach, you really should. It is a beautiful rotoscope animation of one of the best books in the Black Library’s catalog. Where the rotoscope made Hellsreach stand out, Angels of Death utilizes limited color amidst traditional black and white computer animation. Meaning, the only color that shows through is red. It sounds cliche, but it works wonderfully. I never got tired of seeing that rich crimson armor move through the gloom of the infested spire.

Sadly, though the main novelty of the animation is gorgeous in its execution, the animation as a whole is lacking. It’s odd, some character’s look fantastic and others look like a preschooler drew them. The best example would be the two main antagonists. The first is a male Primus of the Genestealer cult who is animated with extreme precision. He looks identical to the tabletop model he’s based on and has an incredibly modeled face. On the flip side, the female Magus of the cult looks like a rejected character from the old kids show Re:boot. She has these giant, poorly animated eyes. She doesn’t look like she belongs in the same show as the other highly detailed characters. I really have to wonder if she was added at the last minute or something, because with how much detail was put into everything else, she really just doesn’t fit.

As for the story:

The show focuses on a small squad of Blood Angels space marines of the adeptus astartes as they attempt to navigate their way back to their home planet of Baal. Chapter Master Dante as called all battle brothers home to defend their planet against the incoming Tyranid invasion by Hive Fleet Leviathan. Unfortunately, they’re trapped in the wake of the Hive Fleet’s shadow in the warp and find themselves ejected into an unfamiliar region of space. With dwindling supplies and in need of repairs, they accept an offer of aid from a nearby spaceport, but not is all it seems. The spaceport hovers above a shrouded world. A world under the control of a sinister force that pays no respect to the Emperor of Mankind or his angels. Surrounded by the hungering maw of death, will the angels rise above the encroaching darkness or will they fall to the madness in their blood?

It’s a simple premise that plays out like a narrative matchplay campaign on the tabletop. If you’re looking for something that’s going to initiate you into the deeper lore of Warhammer 40k, this isn’t for you. This is a show for people who know at least the basics of the universe and how it operates. It is action heavy with personal stories that won’t make much sense to those who aren’t at least familiar with the power and flaws of the Blood Angels. As the show is a prequel to the novel The Devastation of Baal, if you’ve read that novel you know everything you need to know to enjoy.

The standout moment for me was the incredible presentation of Mephiston. He looks and sounds incredible.

If you enjoy the Warhammer audiobooks, like I do, you’ll hear a lot of familiar voices. The voice acting cast is fantastic and includes the likes of Toby Longworth and Jonathan Keeble. Paired with the music of Grammy award nominee Jonathan Hartman, every performance is epic.

Now, I’ve seen a lot of negative reviews for the show. I chalk up many of them to the mass of negative emotions leveled against Games Workshop and rightfully so. However, a lot of hard work was put into this production and it’s extremely faithful to its source material, especially with Executive Producer John French watching over things.

Here’s the bottom line:

If you love Warhammer 40k and enjoy space marine stories, this is a show for you to enjoy. It’s not going to change the world, but it’s finally a full, official space marine adventure in visual form. Just sit back and enjoy that you live in a time where the hobby is successful enough that we get to see shows based on our favorite IP. Growing up, I never would have thought I’d get to see a Space Marine fully animated battling Genestealers.

Angels of Death: Season 1 is streaming on Warhammer+ with a new season coming soon.